Joey Volchko Powers No. 3 Georgia Past Texas 7-1 at Uga Baseball

uga baseball opened the Men’s College World Series with a 7-1 win over No. 6 Texas on Saturday evening at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. Joey Volchko threw his first career complete game, allowed one unearned run and struck out a career-high 15 as Georgia moved into the winners' bracket.

Volchko’s 15-strikeout night

The right-hander scattered four hits and worked through Texas on a career-high 111 pitches. He finished with 15 strikeouts, the most he has had in a game, and kept the Longhorns from building anything after Georgia’s fast start.

Texas starter Dylan Volantis was efficient after the early damage, limiting one of the nation’s top offenses to two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. He retired 16 of the next 18 batters after Georgia scored four runs in the first, held the Bulldogs without a hit from the second into the seventh, and struck out nine.

Georgia’s first-inning burst

Georgia took control immediately with four runs in the first inning. Rylan Lujo supplied the biggest swing in that burst with a two-run homer, and the Bulldogs built a lead Texas never erased.

Lujo added an RBI double in the seventh, and Kenny Ishikawa followed two batters later with a two-run single. Georgia finished with 52 wins and 12 losses, while Texas dropped to 45-14 after the loss.

Texas faces Alabama

The result pushed Georgia into Monday’s winners' bracket game against Oklahoma at 6 p.m. Texas went the other direction and was scheduled for an elimination game against No. 7 Alabama at 1 p.m. Monday. The loss also left Texas at 88-66 all-time in Men’s College World Series contests.

Adrian Rodriguez and Ethan Mendoza each had two hits for Texas, but the early deficit and Volchko’s control left the Longhorns with little margin on a day they needed a clean start. Georgia got exactly that, and the opening game put it one win deeper into the bracket.